Pints With Aquinas - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, Tolerance, Identity

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

Join Matt and Thrsdy for an excellent meme, a diversity worksheet, a short AMA, and a Reading of Thomas Aquinas on Back Biting.

We're live. We're live. G'day. Welcome to Pines for the Aquinas. My name is Matt Fradd. Yep. If you become an annual supporter over at mattfradd.locals.com, Locals is the non-work Patreon, we will send you this beer stein for free.

You just have to pay shipping and you'll also start getting access to our quarterly newspaper called The Jill, not the Gill, the Jill. And we'll even send you that. We'll pay shipping for that as well. So that's pretty cool. So you can do that. So yeah, welcome to Pines with Aquinas. My name is Matt Fradd. If this is the first time you've ever been here, we usually do long form discussions about faith and philosophy and things like that. Today, we're doing a solo episode. And here's what we've got on the docket. I'm going to make an announcement about Calvin Robinson, who we had on the show the other day via Skype.

I'm going to share a meme with Thursday that made me laugh really loudly. Sometimes you'll see a meme and you'll just do the gentle exhale of air. The air through the nose. This one had me going, ha ha ha ha. And confirm I heard it. And then we are going to look at something that Thursday's got for me, something about diversity.

Yeah. So, um, Seamus tweeted this and then it was popped up on a couple of discord servers I'm in. So this is a. This is why I hire a Gen of Discord servers I'm in. This is why I hire a Gen Z guy, because Discord servers. This is a worksheet that was actually given to some professors at a diversity equity inclusion workshop. I haven't seen it yet. It could be terribly offensive.

Absolutely hilarious. Then we're going to take some Q and A from our local supporters. And then finally, we're going to look at a Summa article by Thomas Aquinas having to do with backbiting and slander that I thought was really important. Did you say a Summa article by Thomas Aquinas? Yeah, as opposed to a Summa article by anybody else. We also have some new lights in the background. Yeah.

You can play with them. You can show them what they do. Do you want to see the... I don't know why that is happening. While you get that set up, I want to let people know that, yeah, we've just booked Calvin Robinson's flight, Reverend Calvin Robinson. He's the fellow who gave that excellent speech on why Christians shouldn't allow so-called gay marriage. And it was a really excellent talk. And we, we addressed that on Monday, I think.

And I said, you want him on the show? And everyone said, yes, massive thanks. There's, there was some really kind people who offered to start a GoFundMe because it's not cheap to fly people from England. And especially six foot four people who need extra leg room. Yeah, that guy is I didn't want him to have his knees in his ears and with the afro he's like six nine so Okay, well, I want to say thank you. Just real quick. Thank you to people who did that But we don't need a gofami page. That's what we have locals for so that's we're gonna have him in So long as America allows him in without the jab. I don't know if he's got it or not. Anyway, are you doing stuff?

Yeah, I'm just being distracting while you're trying to be serious. Look, police lights. I feel anxious just looking at them. Anyway, police open the door. So we have we have new lights and stuff. So that's cool. All right. So that's the bit of a big news. So really open the door. So we have we have new lights and stuff. So that's cool. All right. So that's that's the bit of a big news.

So really excited about that. All right. I want to show you a meme. Now this meme is very, very funny. Don't look at it yet. You're not going to look at it until it's up on screen. Okay. Okay.

I got it. I understand the premise of what we're doing. This is and this goes back. Okay. Is it up on scene yet? No, I'm. I got it. I understand the premise of what we're doing. This is and this goes back. Okay. Is it I haven't seen yet? No, I'm I'm when it's up there. I got to go get it. All right. So this this before you see it. How do you want me to put this on the street without looking at it?

Well, you'll see it, but try not to read it. So a while ago, I made the comment about people's magnets on the back of their cars with paw prints that say who saved who and I talked about how that aggravated me. Matt. Because unless a dog dragged you out of a burning building, no one saved anyone. Just go get a real dog and said one of these. All right, here we go. I've seen the picture and it's a little much.

Say when it's up. Here we go. Where it's up. Here we go. We're it's up. Adopt. Don't shop. Meanwhile, on dog shelter websites, this is piss fingers. She's 19 years old and can't live in a home with children, books or electricity. Piss Fingers is nervous around

around here and needs 400 acres of land and an orchard of extinct fruits. You don't think that's funny? Sometimes I feel like. Sometimes it's like, I just don't know. This is piss fingers. What kind of name is piss fingers? You don't find that funny? Is this because you got your dog from the pound? I got my dog off the craigslist, which is worse.

you got your dog from the pound? I got my dog off the Craigslist, which is worse. My dog is gorgeous. Meanwhile, on dog shelter websites, this is... My dog is beautiful, though. I'm not going to show a picture of it because I don't have one. Matt has seen my dog and he is... That was probably one of the funniest memes I've ever seen. And I want to thank Derek Cummins for sending me that meme this morning.

All right. Well, that's the thing we did. Yep. All right. So now this next thing you want to show me. Yeah, let me get this prep. Has to do with diversity, inclusion. This is hilarious to me.

Now, do you think it's a joke? Do you think it's people trying to make fun of the left? No, this is a real thing that was handed out. And you know that why? How? Because the because I want it to be true. Confirms my worldview. Here it goes. OK, so I've got it up on my screen.

So I'm seeing the scene and now let me know. The seal is there. Oh, here it goes. OK, so I've got it up on my screen. So I'm seeing the scene. And now let me know the seal is there. So. I believe it is real. Oasis is that Oasis or Oasis cultural competence, Oasis, a journey. All right, so explain explain to me what I'm looking at. OK, so this was an activity apparently given during a diversity,

equity, inclusion workshop. Piss fingers. You gotta chill big guy. I tried to put this in a place where it wouldn't cover your face, but your face is in every like you're moving around the frames. Oh my. Here, piss fingers. Why piss fingers? Fingers Comments just said the lights in the background. We just became clubbing with the quietest

Cosmos Needed that today people I needed it. It's been a long winter. I'm going to put the worksheet back up. Okay, so. 12 persons. The 12 persons listed have been selected as passengers on a spaceship. For a flight to another planet because tomorrow the planet Earth is doomed to be destroyed. Okay, so these people are going to... These are the last 12 humans to survive. All right, so they're going to repopulate.

They're going to repopulate somewhere else. All right, so that's why we're choosing the people who are... Okay. So, well, let me read the instructions and then I'll tell you why there is an objectively correct answer. All right. Due to changes in space limitations. And so here's the problem I have with nevermind. Why don't we read it and then comment. It has been determined that

only eight persons may go. Any eight can qualify. Your task is to select the eight passengers who will take it. Now. Okay. Two things. It's weird that they specified you should select the eight who should go and not the four who should stay. Cause the four who can stay, you're dooming. Yeah. But the thing is, if this is a, if the premise of this is, if the premise of this is to, to like repopulate humanity, some of the answers on this list are just like, no,

like we're not picking that person, right? Should we read? Yeah. But the other thing that's funny is- I wanna read through them, but I wanna wait. Wait, I wanna make a comment on the instructions. All right. It says the passengers on a spaceship,

and then it says due to space limitations, which I know this isn't how they meant it to be read, but I am 100% reading that as like space limitations, like limitations in space, not like physical. Oh, yes, yes. Which is funny because it's like very poorly written. Yes, yes, I get it. You've moved too much after you get focus. Oh, really?

All right, you get it while I, you get the focus while I read it. It was the piss fingers thing. I couldn't stay still for that. All right. I'm going to read through them. Is that OK? So this is the original passenger list and you're choosing eight of these. Is it 10 people?

One of the 12, eight of the 12 who are going to basically survive and recolonize. But I yeah. So read them. All right. And accountant with a substance abuse problem. This sounds like a game, like a card game, like a board game where you have to choose your character. I'll be the choose your fighter. I'll be the accountant with a meth problem.

A militant African-American medical student. What does that mean? Probably militant Islam. What do you think they meant? Probably militant Islam. What do you think they meant? Probably militant Islam. Right. A 33 year old female native American manager who does not speak English. OK, the accountant's pregnant wife. OK, so the accountant's the one with the substance abuse problem, but he's right, his wife's pregnant.

A famous novelist with a physical disability. They don't specify what kind of physical disability. A 20 year old female Muslim international student. Okay. A Hispanic clergyman who is against homosexuality. This is so bizarre. Well, hold on. Keep reading. You'll understand the

point of a female movie star who was recently the victim of sex, a sexual assault. What the heck? But see, up the top, it does say who to leave behind. Yeah. So the the title is who do I leave behind and then the instructions are pick who to stay that was your yeah Okay. Yeah, so it's like just a racist

Racist armed police officer. Why are they letting him take the gun on the ship? They said racist armed police officer. That is so funny. Like what? Why is him being armed? A condition of him going a racist armed police officer who has been accused of using excessive force, a gay male professional athlete vegetarian. Ah, an Asian orphaned 12 year old boy, a 60 year old Jewish university administrator. Okay.

Now there is an objectively correct answer to this. As to who to leave behind. Yes. Because if the premise is who do I send to repopulate the earth? Okay. It's not going to be a lesbian. Okay. Or the gay athlete so the gay guy while he physically might be able to reproduce is gonna have hang-ups, right?

So he has to stay the 60 year old is going to be infertile. Yeah within a couple years She has to stay this off. Why do you see why do you assume it's a he? I think that's your sexism there because it's a university administrator. You just assume that's a he. See, I assumed that that was a disabled woman. No, see, they would have told you if it was disabled. So that you would know to take it. So the Jew can go. Yeah. Please don't make that a clip. And Asia. All right.

So I think the OK, so the police officer has to go. So we have to we have to leave two behind. We have to leave four behind. Four behind. All right. The police officer has to go because he will just cause problems. He won't reproduce because if he's racist, then he's not going to like. You know, he's not going to go around. Nobody else on this list is is an adequate like partner for him. Yeah. OK. So he's not going to reproduce.

So he has to go. And then and this is where this is where you could argue with this fourth choice. A female movie star who is recently a victim of sexual assault, she's probably on or has

and has been on hormonal birth control for long enough that her reproductive system is permanently damaged. And so she has to stay too. OK, and the rest can come. All right. Let me see what I would think here. Because we want the substance abuse problem.

I mean, on Mars, there may be a limited quantity of heroin for him to... This is the other thing. I'm unclear why the substance abuse thing needs to be listed because... Are you taking the heroin on the spaceship for him? He's got a substance abuse problem and we're sending heroin. If the sending heroin and take the gun, that's where the space limitation comes from they're taking so much heroin a 33 year old native female American manager who does not speak English. See I don't think that's relevant to reproducing. Yeah

You don't I mean, what do you think their point? Like what do you think whoever constructed this monstrosity? I think this is a bias detector supposed to be. So you're definitely supposed to leave the racist. I think you're probably supposed to leave the, I think you're probably supposed to leave the 60 year old. I think you're supposed to leave the home of the clergyman. Right. And I think he's Hispanic.

So it makes you conflicted because, you know, he's not like a white maga maga clergyman. And then I think probably you're supposed to leave the. I mean, I don't want the famous novelist. What's she going to do? Write a story for 12 people? Why did you? Okay, here's something that's interesting. I assumed everyone who is whose gender is not listed. I assumed they were guys and everyone whose gender is not listed. You're assuming is a woman.

That is funny. Yeah, the accountant. That's funny. Maybe that is a woman and maybe they used IVF. You don't know. The a militant-American medical student. I still really think that means Islam militant militant like BLM or militant separatist would fit to somebody in the chat was pointing out.

Okay. Native American manager who does not speak English. The accountants pregnant wife bring her. Yeah. Cause she's two. You get two for the price on one there Exactly a famous novelist How bad's the physical disability? I'd want to know that obviously

Yeah, it's a physical disability like missing the the reproductive parts because if so you gotta keep you gotta stay sorry My hands are great for writing don't care My hands are great for writing, don't care. A female movie star. Now, why does this matter? I mean, I'm sorry that she's a victim of sexual assault, but movie star? What could she do? How old is she? Probably, movie stars, I think their way of saying she's hot. Ah, a gay male professional athlete.

Who is a vegetarian. Also, I want to know what professional athletic you can engage in. Well, vegetarians might be helpful. No, that's my question is like, is there an, is there a professional sport that is there a sport you can get to the professional level in without eating meat? Oh, I'm sure there is. And by I'm sure there is, I mean, I'm not sure. An Asian orphan, 12 year old boy, he's young, he's got a lot of life in him. Bring him. Yeah, he's got a lot left.

You got to take him. Oh, well, let me ask you this. OK, who to leave behind? Four have to be left behind. What do you think the creators of this thing would say are the right answers? I'm sure they'd say there's no right answers. So, no, this is what I was just saying. I think that you have to leave. I think they want you to leave the cop. I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The clergyman. I think they want you to leave the account and take the wife. You certainly wouldn't want the Hispanic clergyman and the gay guy. Yeah, that's the thing. They fight. They want you to take the gay guy, so they must want you to leave the clergyman.

Is this what we've devolved into? Like, is this life now? Is this what people actually have to? I've been out of, you know, university and. Yeah, me too, for quite a while. Jobs.

So I don't understand if this is if you're in the chat or if you're watching this right now Let us know in the comment section below if you've ever been subjected to something like this or if this is just the fringe of the Fringe the vegetarian plays ping-pong. Sorry. No, they are they would have special I'm sorry. I'm not gonna make that joke. I'm not gonna make the joke. Okay So what's next on the list? Q&A we need to have little transition screens Is that happened? All right, yeah one day we're gonna get really professional and we're gonna have little

Ryan shut up Right, all right, what's the Q&A? I'm going to look for it now. MattFrad.locals.com And thank you to all of. Wow. We have 59 questions. I just threw this up like 10 minutes ago. We are not going to get to all

of them, but we will do more of these and I will try to get to all of them eventually. There are 300 people watching this. Wow. What are you doing on Thursday? These people don't have jobs either. Or maybe they're trying to get out of their diversity training. They're quiet.

Maybe they're currently there. They're watching us in diversity training. Exactly. All right, let's see. Any hidden talents or party tricks, asks Morgan WF. My only party trick is that I can open a beer bottle with my ring. Very cool. You just have to keep pressing until it feels like your knuckles about to snap and press through it.

Hi, Matt. I reverted to Catholicism about a year ago, says Lewis, and have brought my fiance into the church in that time as well. My question though is how is the cigar lounge going? All right, so the biographical details have no bearing on the question. It's going well, thank you. It's, yeah, so we opened a cigar lounge here in Studentville, Ohio, about five months ago now, and it's doing really well. He says, do you need any help with it? Up until COVID shut down everything, up until COVID shut, wasn't COVID, it was COVID lockdowns, up until COVID lockdown shut everything down,

I worked in the cigar industry, managing two cigar lounges, running social media pages. Wow. If you're ever in town, feel free to drop by and speak to our general manager, Matt, who's a class who's at the front desk. And he might he might know more. I'm not really involved in the day today. What is this? Gina? No, Jan Beckett, who's says, I thought she was from Australia. So I was about to say who's from Australia, but then I wasn't sure. So I may. Okay. A woman. As a woman,

that's the question. Where do I draw the line with vanity? Taking care of myself and maintaining a joyful appearance is good, but how can I know when buying more makeup, for example, is unnecessary and feeds pride? It's a good question. People are going to have different opinions on this. I'm sure the base base base right YouTube channels would probably say any makeup under any circumstances is a sin. And I'm open to that argument, but I don't think it's... And I'm open to that argument, but I don't think it's. I've heard that if it's a lot and. I think Aquinas said that it had to do. Take I've heard is that if it's that it's lying.

That's right. Yeah, that's a lie. That's the most extreme take I've heard is that it's lying. I would say like if I was to kind of give a conservative answer, I would say that it's a good thing to take care of yourself and maintain your appearance and try to look as well as you can, especially for those that you love. Like if you're married, for example, you should look good for your husband or try to. I know you can't always look good for your husband, but I mean, you should like you should put in effort. Vanity.

I don't know. I had this idea that like whenever we start. Well here's maybe here's a litmus test. Like my wife doesn't wear makeup. It doesn't matter to her whether she wears makeup or not. And she's not concerned if she were to go into town and not have her makeup on. I think that's probably a good sign that she's not falling into vanity. I don't know. What do you think? I don't know. I just thought I just know I just had the thought that The phrase I gotta put on my face my mom used to say that it's put my face on it bugs me

Is it sound like like I love the makeup? I love that Gian is asking two dudes about makeup who have really very little opinions about this Yeah I think something to do vanity though like and this this has to do with immodesty as well, because you think immodesty and you think about it in a sexual way, but there can be immodesty in speech. There can be immodesty in clothing that doesn't have to do with sort of sexualizing oneself.

I think if you dress in a way that sort of shocks people, like it's so out of keeping with your surroundings or the event that you're at, that we could call that immodest. Like imagine if you went to a soup kitchen to feed the poor in a three piece suit like, okay, just calm down. Or I was at a wedding recently and someone looked good, but they had like a straw hat on like a straw short brimmed hat. And I don't know, it just it was wearing like a straw fedora. What do you like the people who sing in quartets like those sorts of things? Like a barbershop quartet.

Oh, a bowler. But it was like a straw thing and he had like a white suit. And there was just something that I thought, oh, that that makes everyone like notice you. And I don't know. I think there's a line. And I'm not saying he was being vain or immodest, but I just think it's one thing to look good. But if if it draws everybody's attention to you, feel good, feel good, play good. Yeah. But not.

Okay. What do I say to my husband who argues that churches should not be tax exempt, particularly one who advocates in what he sees in political matters. I don't know. I don't care. Do you have a quick thought on that? I don't care. I'm a new local supporter. Sorry, I didn't mean to just dismiss your. I was so I really mean it. I just I don't want to talk about things I don't know anything about.

So I'm just going to let that one go. But thanks for the question. I'm a new local supporter says J Tisher. I had found your work last summer and it's been immensely helpful in finding peace in Christ and victory over porn. I'm now wondering if I should have read his name, but he didn't tell me to be anonymous. So here we go. Or she could be a she. Um, good. I'm praise God. I'm really happy to hear that. Thanks for telling me. I am certain I am going to become Catholic. My whole family is Protestant or non-affiliated. What recommendations do you have for me when I talk to my family members

who are likely to think I'm heading in the wrong direction? I want to tell you how thankful I am for you, your wife and Thursday. God bless. That's very kind of you. Thank you so much. I mean, Thursday probably didn't do much, but thank I take your compliment and I'll tell my wife to. Yeah, no, thanks. I think that maybe when you maybe sit down and talk to your parents about why you're doing this and don't expect them to understand it and don't expect them to be persuaded by the reasons you've been persuaded by in order to become Catholic. I think that puts like way too much of a burden on you. But sitting down and say like, here's why I'm doing it and understand you might think this is

the wrong decision. I'm happy to talk about it more with you if you want. Something like that, that's sort of non-threatening to them would be good, you know. And if they are evangelical, I think you said, yeah, Protestant, explain to them how the Catholic church has increased your love of Christ and your reverence of the scripture, because they might have some biases that lead them to think that if you become Catholic, then for some reason, you'll be less of a disciple of Jesus or less interested in scripture reading. So saying that actually it's the opposite might help to assuage some of their fears. Jowie says, best way to get the family together for prayer. If crazy, do you press on, skip it or come back to it later by yourself? It's a good question. I think that in the

Summa Theologiae, Thomas addresses the idea of praying at all times. And he quotes Augustine and I got a quote from Augustine on the vanity thing that I've got to come back to this for a moment, because it's really offensive. But he says like, you should keep in mind who you're praying with and your own ability to maintain prayer. And so maybe your prayers ought to be shorter if you can't maintain your attention. And so keeping that in mind when praying with children, maybe praying the angelus, maybe that's all you do with your kids at night. I tell you what, it's better than nothing. Because if you've got this idea that you need to pray the Rosary every single night with your family or else you're not a good Catholic or something like that, then you might just say, well, I'm not just going to pray anything shorter.

I think don't let the great be the enemy of the good. Try to be consistent in something smaller and be satisfied with that. And then when it feels appropriate, maybe increase the length of prayer to a decade, or maybe the rosary, or maybe something else. But I think it is important that we do pray with our family every night, even if it's wild and woolly. Rachel says, how to deal with increasingly aggressive attitudes towards the church and its membership, e.g. being told to actively support the defenders of pedophilia with financial- Wait, do you want to do the vanity thing first?

Yes, thank you. So, I think St. Augustine says that if a woman had to dye their hair, they should dye it red so it'll match the flames that they'll be burning in for all eternity. Is that a real thing? I don't know. Someone told me. Feel free to look it up. Okay, so somebody made a comment on the modesty and vanity thing. Yeah.

That I want to, I want to read and then ask your take on cause I have an opinion on this. So it says on modesty, Mr. Colin, um, with one L, uh, on modesty I've heard a good rule is what would grandma say now the reason I pick this specifically is because I Currently that is a good probably a good standard right because society probably wasn't crazy when your grandma was learning her morals Mm-hmm, but in principle, I'm not so sure it's a great idea to use Society from X amount of years ago as a standard right because When we do that we end up with the situation we have right now and we don't have to get into this but in politics

We're you know over half of like the Republican congressmen are probably closer to Democrats from the nineties than they are to correct. You know what I mean? Yes. You have the shifting kind of goalposts. So I'm not sure if using previous generations is a good standard. Is his point that in speech we should use the kind of language that we would use right now? No, in modesty.

Oh, I see. No, yeah, fair enough. It's a good answer. Also, times, cultures change. I think there's something to be said about that. What was considered a modest a hundred years ago wouldn't be appropriate to wear today, perhaps, or 200 years ago. Right. So, okay, to this question from Rachel, how to deal with an increasingly aggressive attitude towards church memberships being told I actively support the defense of pedophilia with financial contributions and therefore I can place it should go to hell. Wow. What a conversation. I think if somebody told me I'm complicit in pedophilia,

I would tell them to piss off. All right. That's, I think the appropriate response to that is to go to hell. Um, yeah, maybe not thinking that piss off. Like when somebody accuses you of like racism because you're white or accuses you of homophobia, it's like, no piss off. Shut up. I'm not going to even dignify that ridiculous accusation with a response. If someone's being that aggressive to you, it doesn't sound like they want a response either. So maybe don't play the game.

Yeah. Someone thinking that uncritically uncritically is not worth your time. B. Prant says, who's your confirmation Saint St. Anthony of Padua? I had a lot of questions. I would take a couple more because I don't want to keep doing this. Piss fingers. Did you become a citizen yet? So I thank you, Emmanuel. I passed the test with flying colors, rainbow colors, and I am going to be sworn in, I think is what they say.

I think it's on the 4th of April. So I look forward to becoming an American to have a front row seat on the collapse of this once great civilization. Thrilled to be part of it. All right, let's do one question. One more question. This is a bit longer. Let's see.

Here we go. Greg Moore. My wife and I want to homeschool our three boys aged four and under. Our home life feels chaotic and creating an environment that facilitates school work for our oldest son feels impossible. Yeah, any advice? And then he says, your content significantly influenced my wife and I converting from Anglicanism two years ago. In no small part, you are the reason my four children will be raised as Catholics from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, especially Thursday. He helped in this. He didn't say that. Yeah, I yeah, I am.

It's a good question because you can only deal with so much chaos. And just because another family is able to deal with a large amount of chaos gracefully doesn't mean you're able to do that. I think that's something I had to realize because I had friends and their house was just a crap show. You'd walk in and trip over things and there's stuff everywhere and it didn't seem to bother them at all. You know, like a plate of food was left out from last night and I admire that in a way. I think that people can just be at peace with the chaos that a large family is going to produce and be okay with that. And I definitely need to grow in that area. Just ask my wife, I 100% need to grow in that area.

But I think it's also a good idea to know yourself and to realize like, okay, that person's okay with that. I'm not okay with that. And that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me. It just might mean I have a different, you know, level of tolerance for this sort of stuff. So I think being open with your wife about how the two of you plan on creating as calm an environment as possible,

as orderly an environment as possible is is a good idea. Getting extra help if you're able to afford it, maybe through someone coming and tidying up or something like that could be a good idea. But I do think it's worth it. Like I my two daughters share a room together and they are the coolest, coolest girls. Like I just love them so much. And whenever I go into their room at night, they're always awake and they're either sewing on their sewing machine. I'm not even making this up to make

myself sound cool. It's all my wife, by the way They're like cross stitching or they're like just listening to Adventures in Odyssey on the CD player that we let them use It's like a evangelical kind of oh, I used to listen to that Yeah, I used to listen to that and play pop tropical all summer. Okay I'll ask you what that is letter and then they just they just play together and throughout the day, you know They're they're schooled, they hang out together, they play card games, dice games. The point is, I don't think they would have that kind of relationship unless they were together as much as they are together. You know, and certainly difficulties arise and fights arise and things like that. But

they sorted out and they're really good friends. And so I feel like as a family, we do have a pretty tight knit unit and I would I would chalk that up to homeschooling. I know it's not for everybody and I'm not trying to make that claim, but I'm really glad that we're making that choice. Our eldest son now goes to the local high school here, but we really like it. I'm really glad we're doing it. So I don't know.

Those are a few thoughts. All right. I want to take a look at what Thomas Aquinas has to say about backbiting, because I think it really does apply in a strong way in this internet age where we really, I think myself included for sure, have to do a better job at not speaking badly about people. It's just become this thing that we all do, you know, like there's hit pieces and videos where we criticize each other. And I've always been of the opinion that if someone says something publicly, they should

be, if someone wants to criticize them, they should have the freedom to do so publicly. If I put something out on the internet, it's not like, well, I can't say anything because I have to address it with him first. I kind of feel like if you say something publicly, people should be able to respond to that public thing that you said. So I'm not saying we shouldn't criticize people, but I do think in the social media I kind of feel like if you say something publicly people should be able to respond to that public thing that you said So I'm not saying we shouldn't criticize people but I do think in the social media age We have to be a lot more careful. And so what I want to do now is look at this article This comes from the secunda secundai question 73

Article 1 what is backbiting? So the said contra is it is, if a serpent bite in silence, he has nothing better than a back biteth. So a backbiter is going to be somebody who speaks badly of somebody behind their back. But I want to read the whole response here. He says, just as one man injures another by deeds in two ways, openly as by robbery, or by doing him any kind of violence, and secretly as by theft,

or by a crafty blow. So again, one man injures another by words in two ways, in one way openly, and this is done by reviling him as stated above, and in another way secretly, and this is done by reviling him as stated above and in another way secretly and this is done by backbiting. Now from the fact that one man openly utters words against another man, he would appear to think little of him so that for this reason he dishonors him so that reviling is detrimental

to the honor of the person reviled. So if I say something against you in public, I'm attacking your honor. I clearly seem to have little respect for you. So that's one way I could do it. On the other hand, he that speaks against another secretly seems to respect rather than slight him. It's a good point, huh? Like I respect you enough, maybe I fear you enough not to attack you openly with my speech so I do it behind closed doors or I do it in secret. So that he injures directly not his honor, but his good name, in so far as by uttering

such words secretly, he for his own part causes his hearers to have a bad opinion of the person against whom he speaks. For the backbiter apparently intends and aims at being believed. It is therefore evident the backbiting differs from reviling in two points. First, in the way in which the words are uttered, the reviler speaking openly against someone and the backbiter secretly. Secondly, as to the end view, that is regards the injury inflicted, the reviler injuring a man's honor honor the backbiter

injuring his good name. So I want to talk about this and I want to talk about it because in part I'm kind of a little conflicted about part of this. So it really is I think a cowardly thing to do to to speak badly of somebody that you interact with in daily life you know instead of going to them directly in other words you could go to them directly but you're choosing not to. Instead, you're choosing to speak behind their back. That would seem to be a cowardly act.

And I'll be honest, if people speak poorly of others to me in secret. The one thing I learned from that interaction is I cannot trust this person. So if somebody sits down with me and they just start saying, Oh, you hear about so-and-so and like can you believe this? if I'm too much of a coward to kind of stop them, I At least know that I can't share anything intimate with them because I can't trust them But I think a good response to people who backbite is to say, oh, wow, when are you going to how are you going to bring this up with them? I think that's a good question. Like you could be a little more snarky and say, oh, wow,

and what did he say when you told him about this? That's that's being snarky, because you can tell that the person hasn't brought it up. But I think saying how do you, when, when, how do you, how are you going to bring this up to them? I think that's a great question. It kind of, it takes the air out of the person who's, who's backbiting. And I'm sure I've done this. And when that's happened to me, you feel the deflation. You're like, well, I wasn't planning on doing that.

And it's like, okay, what does that say about you? But the other thing I'd like to say, and this is something I'm struggling with, is what's the difference between criticizing somebody and then wanting to process your thoughts with somebody before you speak to that person about them? Because I speak to my wife about everything and I, you know, if I'm going to have a, you know, if I'm going to have a conversation with somebody, or if I'm going to criticize someone, or if I'm

even trying to figure out, should I be offended by this? I want to process that. So one way I could do that is by not mentioning the person's name. But with my wife, I mean, we share everything. So it's like, I would share the person's name. Is that backbiting? I think it can be, but isn't necessarily. Do you have any? I do this too, but I do it, I do it a lot when I'm unsure if I'm correct to be angry about something. Does that make sense?

Yeah. Like if I'm upset about something or upset with somebody who, for doing something to me, I often will go to a mutual friend and tell them what happened and say, I need you to tell me if I'm wrong. And then, and like, just call me out, just be like, no, you're an idiot. Like get over it.

And I like that you're bringing it to a mutual friend because you know that this person loves and respects this other individual. And so they're not going to tolerate you speaking poorly of him. Not that you would hope not to do that anyway, but also because they're gonna interpret his actions. Well, I'm not so, they wouldn't tolerate it in a, if they're, if the friend we're talking about is not in the wrong,

then I would hope they wouldn't tolerate it. But if they're in the wrong, I would like them to not only tolerate it, but tell me, yes, you're right to be angry about that. And then, and then do something like, how do you want to address this with them? But then often like, you can also do that because you're trying to, like I would be maybe like, how do I bring this to them? Okay. So yeah, you agree. Like this was not okay. How do I bring it to them? Does that so yeah, you agree. Like this was not okay. How do I bring it to them? Does that make sense?

Yeah, makes a lot of sense. So in that case, I don't know, right? But like if they say, no, you're wrong to be upset about it, then I'm never gonna tell the person that I was upset at, that I was upset about it, because what I'm gonna do instead is just fix myself and move on, because they don't need to do instead is just fix myself and move on because they don't need to be bothered by my fault.

Mason Hickman And the cool thing too about bringing it to a trusted friend is because they know the other person in question, if they don't know who this person is, it's difficult to interpret what their intentions may have been when they said or didn't say that thing. But since they do know them, they probably have a good read on what that person meant by those things. Yeah, with with I've been thinking about this and I think you can you can I can bring something out to my wife, let's say, and still hold that person with some amount of honor.

And one way I try to think about this is how would I like this person who I want to criticize or am not sure if I need to rebuke or if they're just bugging me, how would I like this person who I want to criticize or am not sure if I need to rebuke or if they're just bugging me, how would I like them to over, if they were overhearing this conversation, like with how much honor can I address what's going on with them? Can I, can I add another nuance to this? I think. Um, so like this isn't going to bug you. So, so like, um, when you and I are slacking about something and going back and forth, right? And then it seems like maybe we've got it nailed down and then you make a change. And I go, Matt, like to myself, right?

My roommate overhears it and he goes, what? And I just say like, oh, you know, we, I thought we had this figured out, but we didn't. So like, I just need to change it. And I was just like, oh, you know, we, I, I thought we had this figured out, but we didn't. So like, I just need to change it. And I was just like, Oh, that sucks. Yeah. But like, I'm not backbiting you, right? Like my roommate is in the room. And he wants to know he, he is a close friend of mine. And he just wants to know what's going on with me. Right. Like, so I don't feel like I've done any wrong by you. And I don't feel like you would be bothered by it.

We're going to get into a big conflict resolution here somehow. No, I'm going to come out. No, I don't feel like I've done any wrong by you. And I don't feel like you would be bothered by it. We're going to get into a big conflict resolution here somehow. No, I'm going to come out. No, I don't. I'm only joking. No, that makes sense, too. I think it's I think it's disparaging someone's character. Like if I say of, you know, this person, he's always doing this, he's always doing that. That's one thing. If I say, yeah, he did this and it bugged me.

I don't know. I I can talk about that person. I'm using my wife as an example. Y'all can use whoever you want, but I can talk about that person in a way that still maintains their dignity. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, I don't I think you have to be. Yeah, I think everyone wants to know who you are. Have you seen this in the in the in the chat?

Everybody wants to know this you are. Have you seen this in the in the in the chat? Everybody wants to know this is a day. Oh, Neil left me for a woman. I'm Thursday. Yeah. And everybody's like, it's the most confusing name in the world, right? People keep saying he's wearing a red hat. Yeah. As if you must be a Trump supporter. Yeah. No, this is a the logo from the one of the climbing

gyms in Indianapolis. Which is a super mega outfit. Yeah, climbing gyms are notoriously very mega conservative. Yeah. So this person says it's really a matter of intention. I think that's part of it, but I

still think you can backbite. You can still slander somebody's good name with a of intention. I think that's part of it, but I still think you can back by it. You can still slander somebody's good name with a good intention. Can you do that? I suppose you could do it accidentally. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Let's see, I want to see some of these. See, again, this is what I love about Thomas Aquinas, right? You get a pre-packaged debate in every article. Thomas Aquinas, right? You get a prepackaged debate in every article. So let's have a look at one of these objections. Let's look at the third objection. I haven't read it recently, but further to detract is to subtract or to diminish something already existing. But sometimes a man's good name is blackened even without subtracting from the truth. Sometimes a man's good name is blackened even without subtracting from the truth. Right.

For instance, when one reveals the crimes which a man has in truth committed, therefore not every... Hold on. What happened? I just didn't switch to the Safari window. Oh. Therefore, not every blackening of a good name is backbiting. All right.

Here's Aquinas's response. A man is said to backbite another not because he detracts from the truth, but because he lessens his good name. This is done sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, directly in four ways. I love him so much. First, by saying that which is false about him. Secondly, by stating his sin to be greater than it is. Thirdly, by revealing something unknown about him. Fourthly, by ascribing his good deeds to a bad intention. Indirectly, this is done

either by gainsaying his good, or by maliciously concealing it or by diminishing it. I've said it before, Thomas Aquinas says more in a paragraph than modern theologians say in a book. There is so much there. I love that he sat down and thought that a man backbites in four ways by saying that which is false about him. All right, so that's that would be that the distinction between slander and calumny.

I always forget that calumny. Let's see. Somebody in the chat just never mind what told us slander is to defame by telling a lie. Calumny is to defame by telling what I know to be true. Yeah. With the intention of selling someone's name. That's why in the in the litany of humility, you know, you pray. Like these two words are mentioned and people often, I think they're both mentioned.

Maybe it's Calumny's mentioned and when people don't understand it, they substitute the word slander, but that's means slander. If I slander someone, I'm telling a lie. Yeah. You can think about this. Commit Calumny. I'm saying something's true, but it's, it's something that didn't need to be known or that is ends up selling the person's name in some way.

You can think about this from the legal perspective. Calumny is not untrue and truth is an absolute defense to slander. Yeah. Saying what's false about him, secondly, by stating his sin to be greater than it is. And we often do this, don't we? We have an excessive view of our own virtue. But when we're upset with somebody, we blow their sin out of proportion or we think, how could they? Forgetting what a wretch we are. Thirdly, by revealing something unknown about him, right?

You don't have a right to reveal. Fourthly, by ascribing his good deeds to a bad intention. Yeah, that's a lot. See, I think the reason I think this is worth bringing up is I just feel like we need to be reminded about this as Catholics, that these are grave sins. In fact, in the very next article, in Article 2, Aquinas hears the said contra. And just so you know, the said contra, whenever he does this before his main response, he's drawing from some usually church authority. And so this is his official position, and then he elucidates it in his own words. So he says it's written in Romans one 30 backbiter's hateful to God,

which epithet according to a gloss is inserted, lest it be deemed a slight sin because it consists in words. So he's going to say it's a it's a grave sin. Therefore, he says, speaking properly, speaking properly speaking is OK. Therefore, backbiting properly speaking is a mortal sin. Now, he gives conditions to this, obviously, he says. Nevertheless, it happens sometimes to the man, others words whereby someone's good name is tarnished and yet he does not intend this.

So obviously, there's all these extenuating circumstances, but yeah, it's really important. I think that in a sexualized culture such as ours, we tend to think and feel badly only of sexual sin. I imagine if you were to speak to a priest and you'd be like, what sins do people not confess? You know, he'd probably like, I haven't heard someone confess backbiting. Maybe he would, but that's probably like coveting, like coveting my neighbor's goods or envy or my own pride or self-hatred. Like there's all these sins that we probably are not even cognizant of because, hey, we

haven't masturbated, so we're doing great. I know for a fact that if you ask that question to the priest at St. Peter's, they would not say pride. Because why? Because I've say pride. Because why? Because I've confessed. All right, friends, thank you so much for being here. Do us a favor.

Let me know in the comments section below what you think of these little solo podcasts that we've started doing, because I enjoy them and they're a little lighthearted and we also get a chance to look at what Thomas Aquinas has to say about stuff. Do us a favor, please subscribe and click the bell button. That really helps the channel out and it helps it grow and it forces YouTube to show things that may go against their personal beliefs, but not ours. I have Jason Everett coming on the show next week to talk about transgenderism. He's written an excellent book on this and I think he does an excellent job at exposing the falsehood of the ideology while showing tremendous charity and care to those who are struggling with gender dysphoria.

He really does. And I think we need that. gender debate, you've got the left and the right shouting at each other. But then those with gender dysphoria, for which I might get canceled for saying that phrase, I just kind of left out of the discussion. They just it's like two fighting parents and the kids are in the room being like, no one's really kind of addressing my issues. And Jason does that really well. So I'm looking forward to having him on the show. And yeah. A lot of cool stuff coming up. Yep.

God bless. Thank you. Thank you so much.